Chasing the Aurora Borealis

In the beginning, God said “Let there be light.” This biblical truth literally unfolded before me during my most recent sojourn in Tromso, Norway.

On a clear and frosty night, imagine yourself lying on freshly fallen snow on the beach with the towering snow-peaked mountains surrounding you like icy sentinels. The stars above dramatically reveal the numerous constellations. The stellar glow of the full moon on the right side of the ebony sky illumines the greenish haze on the left as it gently and magically spins into brighter hues of green, pink, yellow and gold. Like a cosmic wizard, a stunning pyrotechnic show unfolds in the backyard. The only ambient sound is your heartbeat, the faint cries of a seagull in the distant and the sudden swoosh of a Leviathan humpback whale that shoots off water from its blowhole. You pinch yourself to check if you are dreaming.  All of a sudden, you realize how blessed you are to have witnessed this phenomenal miracle of nature.

Although the Northern Lights can also be seen in Germany, Iceland, Finland, Russia, Alaska, Canada, it is in Tromso that you have the best viewing on any clear night through autumn and winter since Tromso lies within the auroral oval, the belt in which the Northern Lights occur. In Tromso, a city of 973 square miles, there is “more than 24 hours of darkness daily.” How is this possible when there are only 24 hours in a day or rather night? Come to think of it, in Tromso, you say goodnight before you sleep and when you wake up, you still say goodnight because during some months of the year, it is always night!

It is true that only in the darkness can one appreciate the light thus in a nomadic spirit resembling Indiana Jones’ in the trail of the holy grail, I took my chances together with my gregarious travelling companions — ace diver/photographer Yvette Lee and Discovery Fleet’s Leslie Yap to find this most stunning light show on the planet known as the Aurora Borealis named after the Roman goddess of dawn.

Garbed in our thick waterproof snow suits that made us feel like astronauts ready to walk on the moon, we tied the strings of our heavy-duty boots, put on our lip balm and kept our hands and heads warm with our gloves and thick woolen hats. We savored the warmth of  a bonfire set up by our Aurora guides with hotdogs and melted marshmallows beside the seemingly frozen body of water connected to the vast ocean. The silence was deafening, the cosmic lights in bright flares of green, pink and blue appeared like an enormous magnet of oval rings that illumined not just the sky but every cell in our body as well. We were simply polarized and we loved every magnificent second of it.

Today, the Aurora Borealis has attracted tourists to Northern Norway in numbers inconceivable a century ago. In recent years, Northern Lights tourism has boomed. From 18,894 tourists in 1999, the number has swelled to 135,568 tourists from all over the world in 2013. Kyle Parsonage, hospitality manager of Tromso Tourism, welcomed my friends and I amid the -5 degree temperature. The people here are among the friendliest we have ever met and they even retorted, “We have to make up for the inhospitable weather.”

My group joined the television team from Paris led by Matthieu Chardon from Newstalk who created amazing videos of attractions in Tromso. You can view his video on Hunting the Aurora on www.newstalk.ie/video/7vsf4CqlXg4/1/.

At around 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., it is considered Blue Light time when the sun does not rise but instead sits below the horizon. During this time, when one feels like one is in an expansive outdoor ice bar, one can go whale watching, reindeer or dog sledding, salmon fishing, ride the cable car to witness the most scenic views of this city or explore the arctic museums.

Myths and mysticism surround these undulating lights. Some believed they were the spirits of the dead who would swoop down to claim any human who would waive at them. On the other hand, some believed that almighty God wanted to help people endure the almost perpetual and abominable darkness by making the long nights lighter as if by God’s own presence.

Today, we know through layers of millennium-old beliefs and superstitions, science has gradually uncovered most of the secrets of the Northern Lights.

Per Helge Nylund, exhibition manager at the University of Tromso-Arctic University of Norway, explains that the auroras are caused when electrons within the solar wind collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere. At full speed, they hit our planet’s magnetic field 90-250 kilometers away, where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms, producing light. Oxygen glows green while nitrogen glows blue or pink.

The Northern Lights are clearly visible until the middle of April, but statistically, October, February and March have the most visibility. It was a pleasant surprise to know that you don’t even need to bring all that bulky winter gear from where you came from. There is a rental place called Tromso Outdoors where you can rent everything you need at very affordable rates. 

From the inspired moment when I decided to tick off this entry in my bucket list to experience the Northern Lights in Tromso, I simply counted the minutes it took to get there. Reclining my very comfortable seat on Cathay Pacific’s Business Class section, the gracious stewardess offered me bubbly champagne, which I had with truffle chocolates. The flavors of my delightful meal of salmon paired with Sauvignon Blanc were enhanced as I excitedly anticipated seeing the Aurora Borealis. In between watching films from the amazing inflight entertainment and listening to classic songs, my mind wandered off to the Northern Lights and polar nights.

From the posh executive lounges at the Hong Kong International Airport arranged by Cathay Pacific’s marketing and sales manager Ryan Uy to the flights from Hong Kong to Rome and on a domestic carrier to Tromso, it seemed like a thousand hours passed. Aboard Cathay Pacific, I felt as though I was being whisked-off by a golden carriage with blessings from my fairy godmother to witness the enigmatic Aurora Borealis frozen in light and ice.

Such unforgettable travel epiphanies are simply life changing, as they are mind-boggling. We are all here for a purpose and this is mine — to discover the earth’s most precious and exhilarating travel destinations. We reach a point in our lives when we ask ourselves: What is our greatest passion?  What do we get up for each blessed morning? What is it exactly that we live for? The puzzle of nature was solved right before me as I came face to face with the optimum magnitude of God’s power. I was rendered powerless. He is the source of everything.

At least once in your life, go out in the wilderness to experience the Northern Lights. Bask in the glorious amphitheater of nature. Your life will never be the same and you won’t ever want it to be. This search for illumination will not end in the sky but in your soul. After the encounter with the Aurora Borealis, there will be no more darkness for the light will fill you wherever you go. The glow will remain inside you long after you have left the sanctuary of Tromso.

God said, “Let there be light.” For only in this light can we appreciate what illumines the darkness. As the people in Tromso often say, “Goodnight.”

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If you wish to join the next Aurora Borealis adventure in Tromso, e-mail yvetteclee@gmail.com. For photo enthusiasts, pre- departure seminars on what to bring and which camera settings are best to capture the Northern Lights will be offered.

From its hub in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific flies five times daily to London and has 42 flights a week to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan, Moscow, Paris and Rome. Onward connections from these cities to Norway are available through Cathay Pacific’s oneworld partner airlines.

E-mail the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.